Governor Iqbal's Strategy to Overhaul NTB Regional Enterprise Governance

West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) Governor Lalu Muhamad Iqbal is seeking a precise strategy to improve the governance of the provincial government’s regional-owned enterprises (BUMD). Currently, the NTB Provincial Government has three financial sector BUMDs (Bank NTBS, BPR NTB, and Jamkrida) and one non-financial BUMD, PT Gerbang NTB Emas (GNE), which has several subsidiaries and business units. “Except for Jamkrida, all are in an unhealthy condition,” Iqbal stated on Friday (3/7/2026). Iqbal revealed that Bank NTBS and BPR NTB have a factual non-performing loan (NPL) ratio above 12 percent and suffered losses exceeding Rp 200 billion in 2025. Meanwhile, GNE incurred losses of nearly Rp 30 billion, entirely contributed by its subsidiaries. “After carrying out a total overhaul during the first year, all BUMDs are now healthy and have generated greater profits than before,” Iqbal added. Iqbal disclosed that he sought to implement reforms to cure the ailing BUMDs. This included improving business governance, changing business strategies, replacing the entire management with professional individuals, overhauling the institutional structure, and accelerating the settlement of obligations to third parties. According to Iqbal, after one year of restructuring, the companies have returned to normal business conditions. In the second year, Iqbal stated his priority is to consolidate all BUMDs with medium and long-term development strategies. “BUMDs must not only perform commercial functions but must also become catalysts for development,” Iqbal said. The first effort is the consolidation of financial sector BUMDs into subsidiaries of Bank NTBS, which will become a holding company for the financial sector BUMDs. Through this merger, he hopes to eliminate conflicts of business interest between companies, synchronise business strategies, and enable the sharing and cross-utilisation of technical capacities. “So that each company will become more cost-efficient and competitive. For example, the formation of an IT directorate at Bank NTBS and investment in IT infrastructure can later be used jointly to oversee digital transformation across all financial sector BUMDs,” said the former Indonesian Ambassador to Turkey. Secondly, the NTB Provincial Government is also forming a non-financial holding company, PT NTB Kapital Bangkit, with the trademark NTB Kapital. This company will act as a holding entity consolidating all non-financial businesses. NTB Kapital has two main business lines: asset management and an investment company. The company will obtain the management rights for all strategic assets of the NTB Provincial Government and capitalise on these assets. “This company will also form joint ventures with quality investors in sectors that are priorities for the Provincial Government, including the environment, mining, renewable energy, industrial estates, infrastructure and digital services, food security, transportation, and tourism,” Iqbal continued. Iqbal revealed that the company was established through a Regional Regulation. One of the strategic objectives of forming this holding is to provide assurance to investors who will invest their capital in NTB. “Therefore, this company is designed to only hold minority shares, including holding golden shares,” Iqbal said. “Meanwhile, the majority shares will be held by investors who have long experience in the business field being developed, have a good business track record, and have sufficient capital,” concluded the man born in Praya, Central Lombok.